Alabama came to Jordan-Hare Stadium ranked No. 1, closing in on its third consecutive BCS championship. But Auburn was No. 4 and hung with the Crimson Tide. After knotting the game in the final minute, Auburn’s Chris Davis returned a missed 57-yard field goal attempt on the game’s final play from the back of the end zone, untouched to the other end zone for the dramatic game-winning score. The play was made possible after Alabama coach Nick Saban challenged a ruling on the field that time expired on the play before the kick. Alabama was granted 1 second and Auburn turned it into an improbable victory.

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2007: Boise State-Oklahoma, Statue of Liberty

The Game: Boise State 43, Oklahoma 42, Jan. 1, 2007, Fiesta Bowl

In Chris Petersen’s first season with the Broncos, they went 12-0 and wanted a shot against one of the big boys, and got it. They squandered a 28-10 lead and trailed 35-28 with 1:02 left. But on fourth-and-18 from midfield with 18 seconds left, Jared Zabransky hit Drisan James, who lateraled to Jerard Rabb, who outran the Sooners to the end zone to send the game into overtime. Adrian Peterson gave OU a 42-35 lead on the first play of overtime. Boise State scored on a halfback pass and, instead of tying the game, the Broncos went for two. Zabransky perfectly executed the Statue of Liberty fake and Ian Johnson took the ball and raced to the end zone untouched for the win.

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2006: Texas-USC, Vince Young's Heroics

The Game: Texas 41, USC 38, Jan. 4, 2006, BCS title game in Rose Bowl

The high-powered Trojans boasted two Heisman winners in Reggie Bush and Matt Leinart and it looked like they’d claim another national title when they led 38-26 with 6:42 left in the game. But Texas QB Vince Young cut the lead to 38-33 with a 17-yard scoring run. The Longhorns got the ball back with a chance to win. They reached the USC 8 and faced fourth-and-5 with less than 30 seconds remaining in the game. Young couldn’t find a receiver and slipped into the right corner of the end zone for the game-winning score.

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1982: Cal-Stanford, Band on the Field

The Game: Cal 25, Stanford 20, Nov. 20, 1982

Stanford took a 20-19 lead on a Mark Harmon field goal with 4 seconds left in the game on a drive that featured John Elway completing a 29-yard pass on fourth-and-17 to keep the drive alive. Sensing that the game was over after the Cardinal kicked off, members of the Stanford band came onto the field, unaware that the Cal return was still in progress. The Bears executed five laterals and Kevin Moen, who received the kickoff to begin with, scored among the band members, blasting through a trombone player in the end zone.

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1984: Boston College-Miami, Flutie's Hail Mary

The Game: Boston College 47, Miami 45, Nov. 23, 1984

The Hurricanes were ranked 12th in the country and were the defending national champions. Bernie Kosar, who threw for 447 yards, led Miami to the go-head score with 28 seconds left in the game. The Miami players were mugging for the TV cameras on the sideline, believing they had the game won. BC QB Doug Flutie, who threw for 472 yards, called 55 Flood Tip -- a receiver was supposed to tip the ball to a teammate. On the game’s final play, Flutie reached back and threw a bullet from inside his own 40 yard line that sailed over the Miami defenders and into the arms of BC receiver Gerard Phelan for the dramatic victory.

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1990: Colorado-Missouri, Fifth Down Game

The Game: Colorado 33, Missouri 31, Oct. 6, 1990

Trailing 31-27, Colorado QB Charles Johnson drove the Buffaloes to the Missouri 1-yard line with less than one minute remaining. On first down, Johnson spiked the ball to stop the clock. Colorado RB Eric Bieniemy was stopped. After calling its final timeout, Colorado went to Bieniemy again, who was stopped short again. But after the timeout, the officials failed to change the down marker to third down. So seeing the marker read third down, Johnson spiked the ball on what should have been fourth down. Johnson then ran the ball in on the final play. The officials realized the mistake and met for nearly 20 minutes but ruled the score would stand.

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1980: Georgia-Florida, Run Lindsay Run

The Game: Georgia 26, Florida 21, 1980.

With aspirations of a national championship, the No. 2 Bulldogs were on the verge of having those dreams squashed by their rivals. On third down on their own 7, the Bulldogs turned to QB Buck Belue to make a play. Belue dropped back into his own end zone and after scrambling, found Lindsay Scott at the 25. Scott then turned upfield and raced down the sideline for a 93-yard score. Led by Herschel Walker, Georgia went on to get that national title.

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2005: USC-Notre Dame, The Bush Push

The Game: USC 34, Notre Dame 31, Oct. 15, 2005

At Notre Dame Stadium, Brady Quinn scored from five yards with 2:04 left in the game. USC QB Matt Leinart converted a fourth down pass in Trojan territory to extend the ensuing drive and then hooked up with Dwayne Jarrett on a 61-yard pass play to reach the Notre Dame 13. The Trojans reached the 2 on a pair of Reggie Bush runs and on the next play, Leinart fumbled the ball out of bounds with 7 seconds on the clock. USC coach Pete Carroll called for Leinart to spike the ball on the next play, but it was just a decoy. Instead, Leinart tried to run for the winning score. He was stuffed near the goal line, but Bush came behind and pushed Leinart across the goal line for the game-winning score known as The Bush Push. Years later Bush was declared ineligible for the season and had to vacate the victory, but the memory is still there.

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1984: Miami-Nebraska, 2-Point Conversion

The Game: Miami 31, Nebraska 30, Jan. 2, 1984, Orange Bowl

The Cornhuskers entered the game undefeated but playing for the national title on Miami’s home turf. After trailing 31-17, Nebraska stormed back as Jeff Smith scored from a yard out with 6:55 left to trim the lead to 31-24. Miami missed a field goal and Turner Gill went to work for the Cornhuskers. On fourth-and-8 from the Hurricanes’ 24, Gill kept the ball on an run but pitched to Smith just as he was being grabbed by a Miami tackler. Smith scored with 48 seconds left and Nebraska coach Tom Osborne decided to go for the win instead of tying the game. But Gill’s pass to Smith was broken up and Miami held on for its first national championship.

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2002: LSU-Kentucky, Bluegrass Miracle

The Game: LSU 33, Kentucky 30, Nov. 9, 2002

Taylor Begley’s 29-yard field goal with 11 seconds left gave Kentucky a 30-27 lead and what looked like a rare victory over LSU. The Tigers took over on their own 9. QB Marcus Randall hit Michael Clayton for a 17-yard completion to the 26 with 2 seconds on the clock. Kentucky fans, sensing victory, were spilling over the walls and onto the field as Randall rared back for one final heave. His pass was tipped by several Kentucky players and into the arms of LSU WR Devery Henderson. Kentucky’s Derrick Tatum tried to dive at Henderson, but couldn’t keep him from reaching the end zone. Meanwhile, fireworks were exploding off the Kentucky scoreboard and the Wildcats fans were slowly realizing they weren’t running on the field to celebrate a win.